Len's News, Notes, and Stuff

How to Take Care of Orchids

I’m on a bit of a plant buzz right now, and part of what’s got me all excited are 2 beau­ti­ful orchids that I just bought this past week­end at Canada Blooms 2010, a won­der­ful flower & gar­den­ing show. I know noth­ing about plants, and hon­estly, I’m hop­ing that this time around I’ll be able to keep my plants alive. Plants have not always fared well under my care.

One of my orchids is a large, mature plant with won­der­ful blooms. I have that one in my room by the win­dow so that it gets lots of nat­ural light. The other is a small seedling sized plant with only 2 mature leaves, and small lit­tle blooms that are just start­ing to open. I have that one at work, sit­ting on my desk. If it doesn’t get enough light there, I will bring him home where I know I can give it more sunlight.

What the heck does one do after the flow­ers die off and the plant is done bloom­ing? My large orchid came with a tag that says “cut the spike at the base once the plant is done bloom­ing.” What? Cut the whole bloom­ing thing off? Really?

That basic lit­tle ques­tion plus oth­ers, like how much water to give, how to take care of them, etc etc led me on a bit of a YouTube hunt.  Here are some good videos I came across that will give you a per­fectly good foun­da­tion in how to take care of your own orchids!

BTW, medium-sized orchids are dirt cheap at Home Depot right now.